My favorite received: a Le Cresuet Dutch oven. I wanted one for a long time but DH hates to give gifts that can be perceived as 'housework' gifts. I was very excited to open it yesterday. I'm running out to buy something to cook in it today.

Favorite gift given: my youngest niece spent all of Thanksgiving crawling after my dog and saying 'how how.' So, for Christmas, we got her a stuff dog. The look on her face when my sister I law unwrapped it was priceless. She started saying 'how how' and grabbed the dog and squeezed it and that was it. Nothing else mattered to her. Glad I was able to make a 1 year old so happy.

My favorite gift was what I gave my Dad. We had been in the same poker tournament around Thanksgiving. It is something we both enjoy, but they live an hour away so we don't do it together often. He got first and I got second. On the last hand, he trapped me by merely calling my big blind when he had AK-suited. A friend of ours took a photo. I printed the photo and put it in a black frame with lots of flat area. I went to the scrapbooking area and got a set of poker 3-D sticker and set of "Dad" ones. I put the 3D stickers around the frame. Dad really really liked it.

My DH got me a WindowFarm! I'd been planning to make one for months but its a hassle and hadn't gotten around to it, so a nice kit was very welcome!

And my gift to DH was kinda a gift to me too. He gets very anxious driving and regarding directions and ends up getting very angry and freaked out if anything deviates from the Google directions and its just becoems downright unpleasant. So I got him a Garmin GPS, which he loves but will hopefully make my trips with him that much less annoying for me.

My DS is almost 3 and this is the first year he's really been excited over presents. He gasped and then squealed in delight when he unwrapped an Angry Birds t-shirt I got him. No subsequent present got quite the same reaction of glee from him.

Since we can't afford a sous-vide machine, my DH got me a temperature controller to sous-vide in my crock pot. I can't wait to try it out!

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"From a procrastination standpoint, today has been wildly successful."

I also liked the reactions on the gifts I gave almost better. In the discussion I started about ideas for wrapping gift cards I got some great ideas. So ... my sister (of the roaster gift) got hers, a gift card contribution for a bicycle she has wanted for a couple of years, had hers in a lovely gift bag filled with tissue paper that hid a snazzy bike helmet. Inside the helmet was a wrapped deck of used bicycle playing cards. Inside that I had hidden the gift card, snugly tucked in the center. It took her forever to follow my instructions to "keep digging" and "show us how to play solitaire" until she found it. She laughed and laughed and laughed, and later thanked me, telling me the wrappings and unwrappings were almost more fun than the gift.

My brother got his gift card inside a small salad spinner that was stuffed with tissue paper hiding the two limes and the card. The spinner was wrapped and also in another gift bag stuffed with more tissue paper. His instructions were to "keep digging." He also loved it.

My other sister was suffering pretty badly from depression over not having money and having run out of cigarettes the day before. While I despise smokers and smoking I took compassion on her and insisted she open her gift from me before others got there. She also got a gift card (a Visa) inside a make-up bag. She loved it! I drove her over to an open liquor store and she bought two packs of her favorite Marlboros, and between that and the microscope she got from my sister she had the best day ever.

So I feel good. I was dreading the day but my gifts, and their reactions, lifted me up immediately, more so than my gifts, all of which I really like.

Hehe. My family has always wrapped gifts in other boxes, so we had a little mild fun with ds, age 3, when he unwrapped what appeared to be a floor lamp. I said "Oh, DS, is that a lamp of your very own?" He replied very sweetly, "Can I put it in my room?" before we showed him how to open the box and look inside.

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"From a procrastination standpoint, today has been wildly successful."

My favorite gift is without a doubt Jiji, the 1 year old American Short Hair Boyfriend got for me.

Jiji was confiscated by the city police in August, his previous owners had chained him up outside in their yard with no shelter, food, or water. He was also found with injuries on his face from either trying to escape or fighting off other animals. (They've since healed ). While at the shelter he took so badly to being in a cage that he would rub against the bars causing his face to become swollen. Eventually he had to be moved to a larger cage meant for the cats that have been at the shelter a long time and need the space, but no one showed any interest in adopting him.

1) No one wanted a black cat (which are the hardest to adopt out and the ones most commonly put to sleep) 2) him being a young very energetic cat with no prior 'home' kitty etiquette.

He's litter trained but was behaving in a 'play fighting' manner at the shelter, so no one wanted to adopt him knowing he might take effort to train. Since he was kept chained outside for the first 6 months of his life I believe he just has no concept of the sort of behavior an older cat who had a prior home life would have had.

Because he was being overlooked for so long he was listed as an 'urgent adoption' and it sounds like he was getting close to having to be put down as a combination of people just not showing interest in him and him becoming worse off from being kept in cage after cage.

We adopted him this past weekend with the shelter volunteers warning us he isn't a 'lap cat' and witnessing his play fight behaviors. everyone really loved Jiji but he was getting harder to adopt the longer he was kept in cages without any training.

From the moment he was in our home it was like he lived here all along. All he's done is lay with Boyfriend and I, purr in our laps, and stay by our feet. He mews and chatters with us like he's having a perfectly logical conversation. His previously excitable behavior has toned down drastically and he has not nibbled or scratched once. It's like he just came right in and was home right away. No time to 'adjust', no hiding under the sofa, no being scared and nervous, he just fit right into our home right away and spent the whole of Sunday begging for tummy rubs.

Everyone at the shelter will be so happy to know how amazingly well he's come into our lives and see that he's like a completely different cat. He's loving, playful, and just such a wonderful little furry guy that I can't believe no one would give him a chance. He's just a wonderful pet to have and I am so glad that we where able to give him a good home.

I plan on making a big batch of cookies to bring over to the shelter volunteers this weekend, they knew Jiji was a good guy and just needed someone to give him a chance.

Best. Gift. Ever! for both you and JiJi. He' a pretty boy!

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What have you got? Is it food? Is it for me? I want it whatever it is!